Emily Haines, Metric, and the joys of indie rock fusion

By Michael J.W. Stickings

The album with the heaviest play on my iPod at the moment is Metric's marvellous Fantasies, released earlier this year. Fronted by Canadian singer-songwriter Emily Haines -- who has also done some impressive solo work (as Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton), and who, with guitarist and fellow songwriter James Shaw, is a member of Toronto's Broken Social Scene -- Metric is a sort of fusion indie rock band, New Wave synth pop combined brilliantly with guitar-oriented alt rock, with Fantasies leaning much more towards the latter than previous efforts.

Highly recommended. If you don't know Metric or the wonderful Emily Haines, give them a listen.

One of the real stand-outs on Fantasies is the opening track, "Help I'm Alive," a repetitive yet undeniably compelling, even hypnotic, song. Here is an accoustic version that, while not as good as the album version, conveys some of what makes it so good.

The second clip below is the video for another of Fantasies' best tracks, "Gimme Sympathy," with Haines in top form.

Enjoy.